Trump's Jerusalem Announcement: "Kiss of Death" For Two-State Solution

Published: Dec. 6, 2017, 11:09 p.m.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Arab Barghouti, activist and son of legendary imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, as well as journalist and filmmaker Dan Cohen.

President Trump has announced that the United States is set to recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel. This is a dramatic departure from the position adopted by past US president. Why, and why now?

Then, Brian and John take a look at the controversy over the banning of the Russian team from the 2018 Winter Olympics over allegations of systematic use performance-enhancing drugs. Is this about the integrity of the game, or politics? Brian and John are joined by Alan Moore, a specialist in sports governance and the host of the Capital FM Sports show based in Moscow, and by Professor Danny Shaw, a political commentator and a boxer.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in the United States. Newsweek reports that Homelessness in the US has risen for the first time since the tail end of the Great Recession as 553,742 people slept rough or in a shelter in a single night earlier this year, with the West Coast facing a particularly acute problem. Activist Carolyn Gómez joins the show.

The revelation that the U.K. government decided to leave the European Union’s trade bloc without calculating the impact adds another twist to a week that was supposed to mark a breakthrough for Prime Minister Theresa May, rather than renewed accusations of incompetence. Steve Keen, professor and author, joins the show.

Donald Trump Jr. testified before the House Intelligence Committee today on “Russiagate”. This comes on the heels of a decision by the Russian government to designate several U.S. news outlets as “foreign agents” in retaliation for similar treatment of RT in the United States. Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author, joins the show along with international criminal lawyer Christopher Black.

Next, Brian and John are joined by Gloria La Riva, Director of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee, to discuss US-Cuban relations and the report that the Trump Administration is set to appoint career diplomat Philip Goldberg to head the all-but-abandoned U.S. embassy in Havana.

Al Franken is under increasing pressure to resign over sexual harassment, as a possible class action lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein moves forward. Brian and John speak with Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute.